probe

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprobeprobe1 /prəʊb $ proʊb/ ●○○ verb [intransitive, transitive]1INVESTIGATEto ask questions in order to find things out, especially things that other people do not want you to knowprobe intoI don’t want to probe too deeply into your personal affairs.Police probed claims that he had sold drugs.2EXAMINEto look for something or examine something, using a long thinobjectJules probed the mud gingerly with a stick.→ See Verb table

probe• Ammiano called for a probe into reports of voter fraud.• I could have put my picks and probes to bed in the compartment I thus opened, but I decided not to.• Karen responded to my gentleprobes.• The current data are insufficient to establish the suitability of the heaterprobecompared with other types of endoscopic treatment.• Lane 1 is the A+Gsequence of the hybridization probe.• He subsequently alleged that the lab had produced sloppy, misleading or fabricatedevidence in a number of majorprobes.• The idea was to manoeuvre the two modules together so that the probeentered the drogue.• The money went for staffers who were out of work when the probe ended.• The probe was applied from the front in 32 and laterally in 17 cases.From Longman Business Dictionaryprobeprobe1 /prəʊbproʊb/ noun [countable]journalism a very thoroughexamination of something that has happened SYN INQUIRYThe probe focuses on an unauthorized bid placed by the company two months ago.probe into/ofThe agency is conducting a wide-ranging probe into possible collusion and fraud.federal probes of trading practices at the Chicago exchangesprobeprobe2 verb [intransitive, transitive]to ask very detailed questions to find something out, especially things people do not want you to knowTo probe further, I called economist John Mueller.The scale of losses is prompting regulators to probe the portfolios of US banks.→ See Verb table